Mail-bag catcher.



.1. BIRNIE, JR.

MAIL BAG GATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED 001:;17. 191s.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTO-LITHO. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UmrEnsrArrEs PATENTHOFFICE.

JOHN BIB-HIE, $3., OF BIRNIE, IIIANITOIBA, CANADA.

MAIL-BAG CATGI-IER. 7

Serial No. 795,718. I

In the drawings, like characters of reference ndlcate correspondlngparts in each To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHNBIRNIE, Jr., of the town of Birnie,'Province of Manitoba, Canada,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail bag catchers and relatesmore particularly to a, mail receptacle mounted on the platform of astation, and the principal object ofmy invention is to design a box-likemail-bag catcher which will operate to strip the mail-bag or bags fro-mthe moving mail,

car whether the train is moving'in a given direction or in a directionopposite to said given direction, provided it moves along a commontrack; in other words, my mail-bag catcher is constructed double ended.

Another object of my invention is to yieldingly support the means forstripping the mail-bags from the bag holder carried by K the mailcar soas to reduce to a minimum the danger of breaking the contents of thebag, and another object of my invention is to provide my mail bagcatcher with a spring-controlled member mounted to be moved lengthwisethereof, so that when the larly set forth.

mail-bags are discharged thereinto, they will strike this memberandautomatically release the trap door, which will lock one end of thereceptacle closed, and, in its preferred form, my invention comprises abox-like receptacle open at both ends, which ends are preferably flared,a trap door hinged at each end of the receptacle and connectedinteriorly to amovable member mounted within the receptacle and held innormal position, by

portion of a mail car in section, showing the supportingarm for themail-bags projecting through the door thereof. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of my catcher, certain parts being broken away and shown insection, to illustrate internal construction. Fig. 3- is, in part, alongitudinal section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1, and Fig. 4: is a verticallongitudinal section through the closed end of a modified form of myinvention.

My mail-bag catcher comprises a box-like receptacle A whichis-preferably mounted on a suitable support B, carried by the stationSpecification of Letters-Patent. V Patented O t, 13 1914. Applicationfiled October 17, 1913. v i V platform C. p This support B supports thereceptacle A which is designed to contain the mail-bags, above the topof the platform C so that the mail matter will not be afiected bydampness. Each end ofsaid receptacle A is normally open, and the sideand bottom walls D and E of said ends flare outwardly as illustrated soas to facilitate the entryof the mail-bags into the receptacle.

F are trap doors secured by the hinges G l to the receptacle A, and byany suitable spring lock,hereinafter mentioned, the said trap doors arelocked in open position. Positioned within the receptacle A is a memberH, which separates the receptacle A into compartments I and J. I r

K are arplurality ofrods, positioned substantially at each corner of themember'H and passing therethrough, and these rods are supported at theirends within the receptacle A by any suitable means, such as blocks Lsecured within said receptacle and near each end thereof. Mountedon-each rod K are two coiledsprings M, one on each side of the member H,and extending from said member to said blocks L.

. Without further description it will be understood'that the member H isnormally held in the position illustrated, particularly in Fig. 2, andshould more pressure be applied against one side of said member thanagainst the other, said member will be moved in the direction in whichthe greater force is applied,-and when the pressure against said member.is removed, the said springs M under compression will force it back tonormal position. When the mail-bags are stripped from the supporting armN which projects I through the door 0 of the mail car P, they possess aconsiderable amount of momentum, 11

and as a result'of this momentum, the said mail-bags, for instance themail-bag Q, will be thrown into the compartment I, and against themember H. This member will immediately yield and so reduce to a minimum,dangerof injuring the contents of the mail-bag. Not only does the memberH perform the function of reducing to a minimumthe impact of themail-bag Q thereagainst,,but it also performs the additional function ofreleasing the trap door R of the compartment I so that this trap doorwill be closed by gravity, and by means of the spring lock S, lock thiscompartment. Carried by the member II, and at each side thereof, areflexible members 2. ble members are each attached to said memher by anysuitable means, such as eyelets 3, and the other end of each of the saidflexible membersis connected to a spring-provided bolt 4, of thespring-locks 5, which looks are suitably secured to the top 6 of thereceptacle A and at-each end thereof. The outer end of each bolt 4 isnormally held in a plate 7 carried by the trap doors F. Now when saidmember II is moved as described, the bolt 4: of the trap door R isdisengaged from its plate 7, thus permitting this trap door to close, asdescribed. Although only one spring-lock 5 and its connected parts isillustrated in Fig. 1, it will be understood that each trap door F isprovided with one of these spring locks, and preferably two.

As before mentioned, a stripping frame is 'mounted before each end ofthe receptacle A. My preferred form of stripping frame comprises astripping bar 8, preferably curved inward, as illustrated in Fig. 1, andpreferably formed integrally with each end of said stripping bar is anarm or lever 9. Each arm or lever 9 is pivoted at its lower end by a pinor rivet 10 in a bracket 11 carried by the platform C. Carried by eacharm or lever 9 is a bracket 12. Associated with each arm or lever 9 is astay-rod 13, and the upper end of each stay-rod is pivoted to itsassociated bracket 12 by a pin or rivet I l held in the upper endthereof. The lower end of each stay-rod extends through the top plate 15of a bracket 16 carried by the platform, and mounted on this lower endis a coiled spring 17, which is retained thereon by a pin 18. Asillustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the slot 19 formed in the plate15 of each bracket 16 is shaped to allow for the proper movement of eachstay-rod 13. The normal position of each stripping frame and theirstay-rods, is illustrated very clearly in Fig. 2. It will be noticed inthis figure that the stripping-bar 8 of each stripping-frame ispositioned well above the trap doors F, and in Fig. 1, I illustrate thefact that the arms or levers 9 are positioned beyond the side Walls D.Therefore at no time will the said stripping frames conflict with thereceptacle A. The mail car P, carrying the supporting arm N, is supposedto be moving in the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 2, and thedotted position of said supporting arm in this figure illustrates theposition of the outer end of this arm, and'a mail-bag car-' riedthereby, before the mail-bag strikes against the stripping bar 8. Theimpact of the mail-bag against said stripping-bar will- These flexiresultin the removal of the said bag'from .the arm N, and the tossing ofthe same into the compartment I, as already described.

The supporting arm N is illustrated in full lines in the Fig. 1 merelyto illustrate the position of the outer end of this arm in respect ofthe stripping bars 8 so as to show that the mail-bags will be supportedin the most advantageous position for the stripping frames. Of coursethe receptacle A can be made weather proof and constructed strong enoughto protect the mail matter therein under normal conditions.

It will be understood that I may construct my mail-bag catcher so thatit will only possess one compartment, and consequently only receive themail-bag through one end. This will be understood upon referring to Fig.4-. The receptacle A may be provided with a permanently closed end a,and the member H, while mounted upon the rods K will be cushionedagainst the springs M,.which rest against the blocks L so that thismember may perform the function already described. 1

Where mail matter is immediately removed from the receptacle A, the trapdoors F may be omitted. The arms or levers 9 are separated by a widespace so as to insure no interference on the part of the stripping framewith the passage of the mail-bags into a receptacle.

Various changes in. construction may be made without departing from thescope of 4 my invention, as set forth in'the appended claims.

The stripping bar 8- is curved as illustrated in Fig.1 so that thedeepest part of thecurve will be substantially mid-way its ends. WVhenthe stripping frame is mounted for use, the said stripping bar will bepositioned so that the middle thereof will be on a line with thelongitudinal axis of the receptacle A. So curving the said stripping barhas a tendency to compel the mail bag to be centralized in its path ofmovement in respect of the open end of said receptacle so that it willbe thrown thereinto without conflicting with the sides thereof.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A mail-bag catcher comprising a receptacle each end of which isnormally open; a partition positioned within said re-- ceptacle andvertically disposed, to divide the same into two compartments; aplurality of straight rods positioned within said receptacle to extendin substantially parallel relationship longitudinally thereof andpassing through said partition one at each corner thereof; means mountedWithin each of the said compartments whereby the outer ends of said rodsare supported; a coil spring mounted on each of the said rods in each ofthe said compartments on each side 1 abutting against the saidpartitions and their outer ends abutting against the supporting meansfor the outer ends of said rods; a trap door hinged at each end of saidreceptacle; means for latching said trap doors in open positiornand aflexible connection for each of the said latching means attached to saidpartition near the upper portion thereof, as set forth.

2. A stripping frame for a mail-bag catcher comprising a substantiallyhorizontal stripping bar which is curved inwardly so that the deepestpoint of the curve will be substantially mid-way the ends thereof; a

lever connected with each end of said stripping bar and positionedsubstantially parallel to each other, and designed to normally occupy aposition at an angle to the verticall; a straight stay rodpivoted at itsupper end to each ofthe said levers, each stay rod also normallyoccupying an angular position to the vertical; a slotted bracket foreach of the said stay rods through which the lower ends thereof extend,and a coiled spring mounted on the lower end of each of the said stayrods below each of the said brackets and performing the function ofproviding a yielding support for said stripping bar and its supportinglevers, as set forth.

Intestimony whereof I have afiixed my s1 gnature.

JOHN BIRNIE, JR.

In the presence of A. E. SERVANTE, G. E. MONTGOMERY.

Copies of this patent mav be obtained tor five cents'each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. 0.

